Worlds Apart
by Chocolate Shoppe Junkie
Summary: AU At the Age of ten, Kagome is sent away to live with her aunt and train as a priestess. Now, six years later she's back and must learn to fit in at High School while keeping her identity a secret. Will she be able to keep her double life a secre
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

"Tag, you're it!" InuYasha yelled as he ran in the opposite direction.

"Not for long Dog Face!" Miroku yelled back as he gave chase to the young half demon.

"C'mon guys, cut it out." Sango yelled. "We're going to be late meeting Kagome."

"We won't either." Came the Hanyou's response as he turned around to face the whining girl.

"Gottcha!" Miroku yelled as he tackled InuYasha to the ground.

"mmf amf."

"What was that?" Miroku asked as he climbed off the hanyou.

"I said, 'No fair.' I wasn't paying attention!" he pouted.

"Your loss." Miroku replied, ignoring the growl that came from InuYasha's direction.

"Stop goofing off you two." Said Sango, sounding more than a little exasperated. "We promised Kagome we would meet her ten minutes ago." She pushed past the arguing boys and headed off in the direction of the Higurashi shrine.

As the group climbed the stairs to the shrine, it became apparent that something was wrong. Kagome was sitting alone under the large God Tree, crying.

"Kagome," Sango said, concern lacing her voice, "What's wrong?"

"I-I have to go away!" Kagome wailed.

"What do you mean 'go away?' " Sango asked.

"My mom says that I have to go live with my aunt for a while." Kagome replied between sobs.

_Go away?_ _She can't go away! She's my best friend!_ InuYasha's thoughts raced as panic griped at his chest. What would he do without her?

"It'll be alright." Sango said, trying to soothe her distressed friend. "We'll write to each other every day and when you come back it will be like you never went anywhere."

"P-Promise?" Kagome sniffed

"Promise!" All three friends replied as one.

"Thanks guys." She said smiling as she got to her feet. She hugged each of her friends in return, lingering a bit longer when she came to InuYasha.

"Promise me you won't forget me, no matter what." She told him.

"I promise." He said as he let the girl go.

"I suppose I'd better go," she said, tears springing to her eyes once more. "We're supposed to leave later tonight."

"Bye Kagome." Sango said, hugging her friend one last time.

"Yeah, bye." Miroku said.

"See you guys when I get back. Bye InuYasha."

The Hanyou just nodded in response while looking at the ground. He didn't trust himself to speak.

_It wasn't supposed to happen this way,_ he thought as he watched his best friend walk away. Would they really see each other again or were they just kidding themselves? InuYasha sighed as he turned to walk away._ I guess only time will tell_


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters metioned in this fan fic… Why do you think it's called a fan fic in the first place?

A/N: Hey all, and welcome to my first real attempt at an InuYasha Fanfiction. Please review if you take the time to read it. Hopefully this turns out to be one of the shortest chapters. Enjoy!

**Chapter 1**

Kagome sighed as she climbed the stairs to her own room. Would anyone here still remember her? Would she ever be able to fit in again? Thousands of thoughts ran through her mind and filled her with doubt.

She opened the door to her room and stepped inside. It was just as she had left it six years ago. _Wow, _she thought to herself, _was I really that much of a geek? _She took all the stuffed animals and unicorn pictures off the walls. "Definitely need remodeling," she said out loud as she fingered one of the horse statues on her desk.

She set her suitcase down and walked over to the window. The view had changed a lot in the past six years. Where there used to be only grass and trees there were now sky scrapers and parking lots. There was a park not far off down the road, but that was the only greenery in sight. _If the city's changed this much, I can't even imagine how much my old friends must have changed. _

"Kagome?" Came a small voice from her doorway, drawing her from her thoughts.

"Hey Kiddo." She said as she turned to face her younger brother.

"Are you really back?" he asked, his eyes filled with hope.

"No," she replied, "I'm having an out of body experience." She replied with a grin.

"Ha ha, very funny."

_He's grown so much,_ she thought._ He was only six when I left._

"Mom said to help you unpack."

"That's alright Souta. I can handle it."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want mom to yell at me."

"Spoken like a true little brother." She said. "Yeah, I'm sure. I need a little time to myself anyway."

"Ok, dinner should be ready in an hour." He said as he turned to walk out of the room. "Kagome?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad you're back." He said over his shoulder.

"Thanks Souta."

Kagome smiled to herself as she turned back to the window. It was good to be home. She just hoped everyone else felt the same way about her.

Shaking these troubling thoughts from her mind, Kagome retrieved her suitcase from the floor and began to unpack. There really wasn't much to unpack. At her Aunt's she didn't have any need for a lot of clothing or trinkets. All she really had were a couple sets of training clothes, a few pairs of jeans, and some shirts. She hadn't had much time for going to the movies, shopping, or even school for that matter. Her aunt had seen to her education as well as her training. After all, that was the whole reason she had left. To train as a priestess and take her rightful place as a guardian of the Shikon no Tama. Her mother had told her when she was ten that she was different than the other kids at school, that she had a duty to fulfill and if she neglected it terrible things might happen. If the Shikon no Tama fell into the wrong hands it could very well mean destruction for humankind.

Kagome walked over to the closet to hang up her clothes. There, hanging in the closet, was her school uniform. Her mother must have ordered it for her when she had known that Kagome would be coming home. Kagome smiled to herself. Just like her mother to be prepared for everything. Just then a thought made its way to the front of her mind. She would be going back to public school. She had forgotten all about going to high school. Suddenly she felt sick to her stomach.

"Are you alright dear?" Kagome whipped around to see her mother standing in the door way. "You looked sick all of a sudden."

"I'm fine mom." Kagome smiled to hide her doubts.

"Well, if you're sure. Dinner is ready whenever you are."

"Ok, thanks mom." Kagome heaved a sigh of relief as her mom walked back down the hall. She couldn't let on that she was having second thoughts about coming home. Her family was so excited to have her back, especially her mother. That was the reason she had chosen to come back here when her training was finished. Her mom was so excited when Kagome had called and told her that she had chosen Tokyo as her post. Too bad choosing to come back meant that she had to go to school and act like a normal 16 year old.

Kagome sighed again and walked out of her room toward the kitchen. Her spirits lifted as the fresh aroma of home cooked food wafted down the hall. She had really missed her mom's cooking. Aunt Rin never had much time to make home cooked meals. She was always busy with Kagome's training or on assignments. It wasn't that her aunt wasn't a good cook; it was just that she had other things on her mind.

As she made her way down the stairs, Kagome could see her grandfather and her brother seated at the table. They were having an argument of some sort but Kagome couldn't tell over what. Kagome chuckled to herself. Some things never do change.

Kagome sat down at the table and the argument immediately ceased.

"Well, look who finally decided to grace us with her presence."

"Grandpa!" Mrs. Higurashi chided from the stove.

"What?"

"Did you finish unpacking?" Mrs. Higurashi asked as she glared at her father.

"Yeah," Kagome replied, "there wasn't much to unpack to begin with."

"Well, that's good." Mrs. Higurashi said as she set the food on the table and took her seat. Too bad for her, Kagome tuned out the minute the food was set in front of her. She helped herself to a generous portion and began to dig in. Unpacking and getting settled in had given her an appetite. Mrs. Higurashi chuckled as Souta stared at his sister. Grandpa just rolled his eyes at the rest of the family and began to eat his own food.

"Oh, I talked to Sango's mother today. She said that Sango would be over tomorrow morning so you two could walk to school together." At this, Kagome began to choke on her food.

"W-what?" Kagome asked, recovering her composure.

"You do remember Sango don't you?"

"Yeah, of course I do." Kagome replied, albeit a bit nervously. Sango was the only one she had stayed in contact with while she was away. Sure, Miroku and InuYasha had written her a couple times but the letters stopped coming over time. She wondered if Miroku and InuYasha even knew that she was back. Probably not. What can you expect from a couple of teenaged guys? But the thought of seeing Sango again still made her a bit nervous. She hadn't seen her best friend face to face for over six years.

"Well, that's settled then. She'll be here around 7:30 so you two can get to school early and you can get all your classes sorted out."

"OK." Kagome replied and finished her dinner in silence.

Kagome lay in bed and tried not to think about the coming morning. It was going to be her fist day at a public high school. It would be her first time seeing any of her friends in six years. She knew Sango still remembered her but what about Miroku and, more importantly, InuYasha? Would they just accept her as one of their friends again or ignore her completely? What would classes be like? Was she prepared well enough or would she end up flunking out of each and every one of her classes? Surprisingly, she was more worried about InuYasha accepting her again than anything else and she had no clue why.

She rolled over and tried to chase every thought from her mind and fall asleep to no avail. Finally, she gave up and went to her desk. She opened the top drawer and pulled out a small notebook that served as her journal. She had kept it everyday since she started her training. The first few pages were filled with angry rants aimed at the mother and aunt for sending her away. Most were uneventful, just notes about the days exercises and how she did. There really wasn't much else to write about since she wasn't allowed to see anyone but her aunt. Rules, she was told, that had been put in place by The Guard to ensure that she trained to the best of her abilities and was not distracted.

She proceeded to put her thoughts down on the paper. Her worries and doubts and especially her growing anger that she could not have been left alone. Why her? There were enough Guardians as it was. Why was she so important? Kagome finished her entry and closed the notebook. Maybe now she could get some sleep. She padded back over to her bed, climbed under the covers, and stared out the window until she fell into a light and uneasy sleep.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters present in this fanfic. I do own the story line however!

**A/N: **College sucks and I really should be doing my homework but oh well. Sorry it took so long to update but I've been swamped with homework. Double majoring is not a good idea. Anywho, thanks for the reviews. Like I said, from here on out the chapters should get longer. The only reason the last one was so short was because I wanted to end it before Kagome's first day of school. Oh, FYI I always write from the omniscient point of view so any direct thoughts are in _italics._ Any way…. Here's chapter 2. Enjoy!

**Chapter 2 **

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" Kagome's hand came down hard on her alarm clock. "Stupid clock," she mumbled, "why can't you just leave me alone?" Kagome turned over to face the wall and pulled the covers back over her head. Maybe if she stayed here long enough everyone would forget about her and she could go back to sleep.

"Kagome!"

"So much for that idea." Kagome groaned as she got out of bed. She looked at the clock. 7:00 was way too early. As she passed her closet on her way out of her room, Kagome pulled out the clothes she would need for the day and, after retrieving a towel from the linen closet, she made her way to the bathroom.

The hot water helped to ease her tense muscles. All night she had dreamt of what today would be like. In some dreams her friends acted as if she hadn't left at all. In others she was effectively shunned by everyone in the school. Nothing she did could erase these fears from her mind. She kept telling herself that every thing would be fine, that she wouldn't turn into the social outcast that she feared becoming.

"Kagome! It's almost 7:30! You'd better hurry up!" Her mother's voice drew her out of her thoughts. With a heavy sigh Kagome turned off the water, dried off, and began to get dressed. After exiting the bathroom she walked back down the hall to her room, deposited her pajamas in the hamper, grabbed her book bag, and headed downstairs to breakfast. When she entered the kitchen breakfast was already on the table. She sat down and helped herself to a plate.

Several minutes later the doorbell rang and all of Kagome's fears came back ten fold. Kagome struggled to retain her composure as her mom went to answer the door. She got up from her seat at the table and walked out into the hall. There, standing just inside the door, was Sango. Kagome swallowed hard as she looked at her friend. Sango was taller than Kagome with long black hair. She saw some of her reservations reflected in Sango's eyes. Kagome smiled and before she knew it Sango had made her way across the all and captured Kagome in a hug. Kagome let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

"It's so good to see you again Kagome!" Sango exclaimed as she pulled back tears springing to her eyes.

"It's good to see you too." Kagome replied, relieved.

"We'd better get going so you can get all your classes sorted out."

"Alright, see you later mom!" Kagome said as she gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Goodbye Honey, have a nice day!

"I will mom." Kagome smiled as she walked out behind Sango. The two girls walked down the steps to the shrine and took off toward the school.

"So, how've you been? Was it nice at your aunt's?"

"I've been good, thanks. Yeah, it was nice but it's good to be home."

"I know what you mean." Sango smiled at her friend.

"So," Kagome began a bit nervously, "how have Miroku and InuYasha been?" A dark look crossed Sango's face at the mention of Miroku.

"You'll see for yourself." Sango replied with a bit of an edge to her voice. Kagome wanted to press the subject further but the look on Sango's face told her to leave it alone and they continued the walk to school in silence.

After several minutes Kagome could see the roof of the large school peeking over the trees. Sango's mood visibly lifted as the school came into view. The school was three stories tall and had windows lining the front. There were many stairs leading up to the main doors where students were sitting either talking or trying to finish homework at the last minute.

"First stop is the Main Office where you'll get your schedule." Sango said, breaking the silence. Kagome nodded by way of a response as the girls walked up the steps leading to the front doors of the school. "Is something wrong?"

"No, of course not." Kagome said, plastering a smile on her face. The truth was that all the doubts and worries from the night before were racing through her mind. Kagome followed Sango down the front hall until she stopped in front of a set of double doors which had the words "Main Office" stenciled on them.

"Well, here you go. I'll see you at lunch OK?"

"Sure." Kagome reassured her friend. Sango waved and walked down the hall to her first class. Taking a deep breath, Kagome pushed open the doors and walked into the office. There were chairs lined up against the wall to her right and a large counter stretched out before her. There was a woman behind the counter and she seemed to be having an argument with the boy in front of her.

The door slammed closed behind her and scared both the boy and the woman behind the counter. The boy swung around to see what was going on and Kagome's eyes met gold. Kagome's breath froze in her chest. The boy stared at her for what seemed like an eternity and Kagome saw a spark of recognition flash in his eyes. No sooner than she had noticed it the look of recognition was gone and was replaced by a cold stare.

"Mr. Tashio, if you'll just wait one minute-"

"Never mind." The boy said as he snatched up his book bag and headed out the door. All Kagome could do was watch him go.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"What?" Kagome jumped as the woman behind the counter addressed her.

"Can I help you?"

"Oh. Um… Higurashi, Kagome. I'm a transfer student."

"Oh, yes. Just a minute and I'll get you your schedule." The woman said as she disappeared behind a large file cabinet. Kagome looked around nervously as she waited for the woman to return. That boy couldn't have been InuYasha, could it? He was so cold and indifferent. But she couldn't deny the resemblance. Fear gripped her chest as she realized that InuYasha may not still consider her a friend. After all, he had stopped writing to her.

"Here we are," the woman exclaimed as she reappeared from behind the files. "Your first class is math in room 212. Do you want me to show you where it is?"

"No, I think I can find it." Kagome replied

"Well, if you're sure. Give this to your teacher when you get there." The woman said and handed Kagome a sheet of paper. "You'll find the room on the second floor."

"Thank you." Kagome nodded and headed out the door. After exiting the Main Office she walked off toward a set of stairs that she had passed by with Sango on their way through the building. As she climbed the stairs her sense of apprehension increased. She suddenly felt like running back to her aunt's. She reached the top of the stairs and turned to her right.

When she finally arrived at room 212 she knocked lightly. The teacher paused in the middle of his lecture and opened the door for her. He looked to be in his late sixties with his white, balding hair and he was rather short.

"Can I help you?"

"My name is Kagome Higurashi. I'm a new student" Kagome said as she handed him the sheet of paper she had been given at t he office.

"Ah, yes. Please come in and take a seat." The teacher stepped back to let her into the room. "My name is Mr. Myouga. Everyone, I would like you meet Miss Kagome Higurashi. She will be joining our class." At the mention of her name a boy sitting in the back row began to choke on the water he had been drinking. Mr. Myouga sent the boy a glare and he promptly regained his composure.

"Miss Higurashi, would you care to introduce yourself?" The teacher asked as he turned back to Kagome.

"Well," Kagome began, not quite sure what to say, "I just moved back here after staying with my Aunt for a while and this is really my first time attending a public high school." The teacher nodded and motioned for her to take the empty desk at the front of the class room. As she sat down, Kagome quickly glanced at the boy from earlier. His black hair was tied back into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck. His violet eyes wandered around the room, refusing to make contact with hers. Kagome dismissed him and turned back to the front as Mr. Myouga started his lecture.

It was only noon and Kagome was exhausted. Years of training to fight demons hadn't prepared her for the adventure that was high school. She was still having trouble getting used to so many people in the same place. Her Aunt had lived in a secluded area and Kagome hadn't seen other people very often. Only when they went into town for food and other necessities had Kagome had direct contact with the outer world. Her only other source of information had been the letters from her mom and Sango.

Kagome picked up her tray and turned to the crowded lunch room. Rows and rows of tables stretched out before her, each one filled with happy, chattering students. Kagome looked around to see if she could find Sango in that mess of people.

"BOO!" someone said from behind her. Kagome whirled around and nearly spilled her food in the process.

"Whoa. Don't drop anything." Sango said with a grin.

"Ha ha." Kagome replied, less than amused.

"Come on," Sango said as she jerked her head in the direction of an open table, "let's eat. I'm famished." Kagome nodded and followed Sango over to the table. They both put their trays down and took a seat. Kagome stared dismally at her "Hamburger." _They honestly call this meat?_

"Something wrong, Kagome?" Sango asked.

"Ummm…" Kagome said as she continued to stare at her Hamburger. She soon realized that Sango was laughing at her. "What?"

"Never eaten in a cafeteria before have you?" Sango asked

"Well, no. Not really."

"You'll get used to it." Sango assured her. Somehow, Kagome was still skeptical. Kagome looked up from her food to see the dark haired boy from her math class approaching their table.

"Hey Sango, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked

"There's nothing to talk about Miroku. Please just go away." Sango said. Kagome gaped at the boy. He is Miroku? It took a while, but Miroku finally realized she was there.

"Hey Kagome," he said a bit hesitantly, "how have you been?"

"All right." Kagome responded with a small smile.

"That's good. You had a good time at your aunt's?"

"Yeah, it was nice."

"Good to hear it. Sango, I really need to talk to you." He said as he put a hand on the girl's arm.

"I said no!" Sango yelled as she jerked her arm away from his grasp. At this Miroku sighed in defeat and turned to leave;

"I guess I'll see you around then. Catch you later, Kagome" He said as he got up and Sango grunted her goodbye.

"Yeah, sure. See ya." Kagome nodded, a little embarrassed by Sango's behavior. As soon as he was out of earshot she turned to her friend. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing." Sango replied curtly and shoved a French fry in her mouth. Kagome shrugged and turned her attention to her "lunch." After a few minutes Sango spoke up.

"So, what do you have after lunch?"

"Ummm," Kagome said as she dug through her bag looking for the schedule the lady in the office had given her, "I have chemistry, English Lit., and study hall."

"Who do you have English Lit. with?"

"Umm… Mrs. Sato."

"We have that class together." Sango said as the bell rang. The girls grabbed their bags, got up, and went to put their trays away.

"So, I'll see you in class later." Sango said as she waved goodbye to Kagome.

"Yep." Kagome replied as she walked down the hall towards her chemistry class. When she got there most of the students were already seated. The class room consisted of three rows of black topped tables that were characteristic of most science rooms, each with two people seated at them. Kagome walked up to the teacher and asked where she should sit. He pointed to a seat at an empty table at the front of the class room and handed her a text book, thankfully skipping the little intro most of her teacher seemed bent on forcing her into. Kagome sat down and pulled out the binder she would need for the class. The bell rang and class began.

"Everyone please turn to page 204 in your textbook and begin working on the problem sets with your partner." Kagome looked around as every set of two students began to work on the problems together. She shrugged and went to work. After a few minutes the door flew open and banged against the wall.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Tashio. I'm so glad you could work us into your busy schedule." The teacher said, rather irritated.

"No problem." The boy smirked. The teacher sighed and told the boy to take his seat. To Kagome's surprise, and horror, he sat next to her. Kagome stared openly at him.

"What's your problem?" He asked in a rough tone of voice.

"Is there something wrong InuYasha? Perhaps you would like to stay after class…again." The teacher said, getting very annoyed.

"No sir." He responded

"Then I suggest you get to work."

"Feh." Was all the hanyou said in response as he turned to his book and proceeded to ignore Kagome for the rest of the period. Kagome sighed and went back to her problems. This was going to be a long year.

Kagome walked slowly towards her English Lit. Class. Thanking heaven that it was her last real class of the day. She couldn't take much more of this. Her brain felt like it was ready to explode.

Kagome entered the class room and spotted Sango sitting on the other side of the room. She immediately made her way across the class room and sat down next to Sango. The class room held tables much like her chemistry class except for this time they were arranged in a horse shoe pattern with one row in the center.

"So, how was chemistry?" Sango asked as she propped her head on her hand

"Don't ask." Kagome responded

"That bad huh?"

"Yup. I met InuYasha." At this Sango raised an eyebrow. "He's my lab partner." Kagome elaborated.

"Ha! Good luck." Sango said as she turned to her bag and pulled out her notebook and textbook.

"Thanks, I think I'm going to need it." Kagome said as Mrs. Sato walked into the room and began her lecture for the day.

"Finally!" Kagome said as she threw her hands up in the air and walked down the steps in front of the school. Sango grinned at her friend and followed. She knew exactly how Kagome felt.

"I know what you mean." Sango said as the girls headed toward home. Kagome grinned.

"I thought it would never end."

"Yeah, seems that way most of the time." Sango smiled as they continued down the sidewalk. After a short distance Kagome turned to Sango.

"Well, my house is down this way. Think you can make back home on your own?" She winked.

"I think I can make it." Sango laughed. The girls waved goodbye and Kagome continued the last few blocks to her house.

"Mom, I'm home!" She announced as she walked through the door and tossed her book bag to the side.

"How was your day, Kagome?" Her mom asked as she walked into the living room.

"It could have been worse. Then again, it could have been better as well."

"Well, at least it wasn't a total disaster." Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "By the way, this came for you in the mail." She said, handing Kagome an envelope from the small coffee table that sat by the couch. Kagome took the letter and was greeted with the official seal of The Guard as she turned it over. _Great,_ she thought, _so much for having a few days of normalcy._

**All Done! Hope everyone liked and, as always, please review and tell me what you thought. Chao for now! .**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha… If I did do you really think I'd be wasting my time in college? **

**A/N:AHHH! I'm alive! This took so much longer than I had anticipated. Things kept coming up and then my professors decided that dumping a bunch of homework on me would be a good idea. Any way, the important thing is that I haven't given up on this story. Just to clarify, Fluffy is not related to InuYasha and he is now one of the good guys, though I will do my best not to change his personality too much. And, for those of you worrying about how Miroku and InuYasha are treating Kagome, that part will be resolved in time. So, without further ado, on to Chapter 3!**

**Chapter 3**

Kagome just stared at the envelope, the red seal barely registering in her mind. _Why couldn't they have just waited a couple of days?_ She took a deep breath and started to open the letter. Inside was a piece of heavy parchment and when she unfolded it she was greeted by very neat and ornate handwriting.

** Miss Kagome, **

**It gives me great pleasure to welcome you as a full member of the guard. As you a well aware we are a bit short staffed at the moment so your services will be required immediately. Please report to head quarters on Friday the 25th to receive your assignment and partner. Enclosed please find the address to which you will report and round trip fare.**

**Sincerely, **

**Sesshomaru **

Below the signature, an address was printed. _It's all the way across town, _she whined. Kagome looked in the envelope once more and found enough money for a cab to and from the given address._ And what was that about a partner?_ With another heavy sigh, she stuffed the letter into her back pack and went upstairs to start her homework.

Flopping down on her bed, Kagome couldn't help but complain. It wasn't fair, all most kids had to worry about was what paper was due tomorrow or who they were going to the dance with. She, on the other hand, didn't have time for such petty worries. She had bigger things to think about, like keeping certain demons from claiming certain artifacts. Grumbling something about a writing assignment, Kagome got up from her bed, sat down at her desk, and buried herself under the mountain of homework that needed to be done.

-:-

"Done," Kagome exclaimed as she tossed her pencil down onto her chemistry book. "Nothing like balancing a few Red-ox reactions," she said sarcastically as she rose from her seat. As she opened her door she was greeted by the aroma of her mother's cooking. _Nice to know that some things never change_, she thought to herself as she walked down the stairs.

"Well, Well, look who finally decided to make her presence known." Kagome's grandfather teased as she walked into the kitchen.

"Well, excuse me," she replied, "It's not my fault my teachers decided to try to kill me with homework on my first day."

"Ha ha," her brother said as he shoveled potatoes into his mouth. "I didn't have any homework." Kagome stuck her tongue out at him in response.

"All right, you two," Mrs. Higurashi said as she sat down at the table, "let's just have a quiet dinner for a change."

"OK, Mom," the two siblings yielded simultaneously.

"So, what was that letter about, Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, nothing really," Kagome replied, "Just information about my first assignment."

"You should be proud to be a Guardian!" her grandfather chimed in. "Why, in my day…" he trailed off, obviously remembering something that happened long ago. He really wasn't much of a priest himself but he took pride in the knowledge that his granddaughter was continuing in the footsteps of her ancestors. Kagome just nodded and turned back to her plate.

-:-

The next morning started out much like the previous one. Kagome woke up cursing her alarm clock and proceeded to take her morning shower. After breakfast Sango arrived and the two girls walked the several blocks to the high school. After arriving, the girls parted ways and headed off to their respective classes. Kagome took a front seat and waited for her math class to begin.

Soon after she had pulled out her text and notebook, Kagome saw Miroku enter the class room, and he wasn't alone. Following behind him were no less than five extremely excited girls. Kagome watched in amazement as the group of girls followed him to his seat and gathered around him, each one pushing the others to get as close as possible. He winked at Kagome when he noticed her staring at the group. Shaking her head, Kagome turned back to the front of the class and opened up her text book to the page that the teacher had left off on yesterday. A few minutes later Mr. Myouga entered the classroom and started his lecture.

-:-

Before Kagome knew it, lunch had come and gone, along with her afternoon classes. She was currently spending her last period study hall in the library, trying to get a head start on her homework for the night. Glancing around her, Kagome could see a few other students doing the same. She turned back to her math homework, which was succeeding in giving her a migraine. Who actually used trigonometry in real life anyway? It wasn't like she would ever see the law of cosines in her adult life, not to mention she had no clue how to work the problems anyway. Sighing, she picked up her pencil and began a new assault on the offending math problems.

A few minutes later, Kagome was interrupted when a shadow fell across her math book. Looking up, she came face to face with none other than Miroku.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked, a friendly smile gracing his face.

"Um…no." Kagome replied a bit hesitantly and watched as he pulled his book bag off of his back and sat down on the opposite side of the table. He then proceeded to pull out a notebook and textbook.

"So, how has your day been so far?" He asked, trying to make conversation

"All right," Kagome replied, "nothing too interesting happened." Miroku scoffed at her last remark.

"Get used to it. Nothing interesting ever happens around here."

"That can't be true. Something is bound to happen at some point in time."

"Not around here, trust me." Kagome shrugged and turned back to her math homework. Silence fell at the table as both teens became absorbed in their respective tasks. Letting out a heavy sigh, Kagome began to erase the problem she had been trying to work out.

"Is something wrong?" Miroku asked as he noticed her eraser flying over her paper.

"No…well, yes. I don't understand a single problem of today's math homework."

"Oh, is that all?" He replied with a grin as he moved around the table to sit next to Kagome.

"What do you mean, 'is that all?'? It's a rather large problem considering there's going to be a test tomorrow." She said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"What I mean to say is that you are in luck. I happen to be a genius in math."

"You are?" Kagome asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep." Was his reply as he took up her pencil and began to work out the math problem that Kagome had been having so much trouble with earlier. Kagome stared in shock as the pencil flew over the paper.

"How did you do that?" She demanded when he had finished.

"It's actually really easy once you get the hang of it." He said with a grin. "Here, I'll show you." They spent the rest of the period hunched over Kagome's math book, Miroku explaining how to work out the equations and correcting Kagome when she missed something or used a term in the wrong way. When the bell rang the two teens picked up their bags and made their way out of the library.

"Thanks again for all of your help, Miroku." Kagome said as they turned down the hall towards the front entrance of the school.

"Anytime, what are friends for anyway?" Kagome stopped walking when she heard this comment.

"Is something wrong?" Miroku asked when he noticed that she had fallen behind.

"No, nothing's wrong." Kagome replied, shaking her head. She hoped that he didn't catch the edge of shock that her voice contained. Miroku shrugged and began walking again.

When they reached the front doors of the school they waved good bye as Miroku headed off to the parking lot and Kagome towards the sidewalk that ran in front of the school yard. There, Kagome meet up with Sango, who was giving her an appraising look.

"What?" Kagome asked, uncomfortable with the look her friend was giving her.

"You came out with Miroku." Sango said rather icily.

"What about it?" Kagome asked, confused at her friend's tone.

"Why?"

"We were in study hall together. He helped me with my math homework. It only seemed natural that we would walk out together. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Be careful around him." Sango said as she turned down the sidewalk and began the walk home. Kagome shook her head and followed after, her head spinning with more unanswered questions. After a while, Sango broke the silence.

"Do you have any plans for this weekend?" At the mention of the weekend, Kagome was reminded that she was supposed to report to headquarters to get her up coming assignment. Of course, she couldn't let Sango know this. It was too dangerous.

"Well, I guess I'm free on Saturday."

"Cool, did you want to go see a movie or something?"

"Sure, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking we could go see The Chronicles of Narnia on Saturday. I haven't seen it yet and I really want to."

"Sounds good to me. Do you know what time?"

"Not yet, I'll check them out and call you on Friday, OK?"

"All right, see you tomorrow." Kagome said as she turned down the street that lead to her house.

"Yep! Bye now." Sango waved and Kagome made her way home.

-:-

The rest of the week seemed to fly by. Things got progressively easier and she started to make more friends in each of her classes. She even invited another girl, Ayame, to sit with her and Sango at lunch and Ayame had accepted. InuYasha continued to ignore her in Chemistry and sat as far away from her as the table would allow. The only time he ever acknowledged her presence was when a lab called for it. Miroku had taken to joining her in the library during their study hall and continued to help her with her math homework when she required it. To her surprise, she was actually beginning to understand the material.

However, today was Friday and Kagome was finding it incredibly hard to concentrate on her essay for English Lit. She was currently staring out the large window in the library and tapping her pencil against her notebook. After school she would go meet her senior officer and receive her orders. She was still a bit fuzzy on the partner bit.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"Huh?" Kagome jumped at Miroku's question.

"I said, are you sure you're all right?" He asked again.

"Of course, what would be wrong?"

"You tell me." He replied, with a skeptical look on his face.

"What makes you think something is wrong?" She asked, avoiding his penetrating gaze.

"I don't know," he replied sarcastically, "maybe the way that you can't seem to sit still?"

"Oh, I just had a lot of soda at lunch." She lied quickly.

"If you say so." He replied as he turned back to his homework. Kagome did the same and tried her best to concentrate on her essay. What was it supposed to be on again? Oh, right, the religious symbolism in Dracula. The bell couldn't come soon enough.

When the bell finally rang, Kagome gathered her books as fast as possible and all but ran out of the library, Miroku watching her all the way with a puzzled expression on his face. She made her way out of the school as fast as she could and proceeded to the road in front of the school. She had already told Sango that she had somewhere to be and would not be walking home with her. Kagome chewed on her bottom lip as she waited to hail a cab. When one finally arrived she gave the driver the address and began to stare out the window. The driver made his way through down town and to the other side of the city. As Kagome watched, the commercial buildings gave way to housing developments with the frequency of houses diminishing as the ride continued. It seemed hours later when the driver turned down a secluded drive. Kagome turned her attention to the front of the car as the house came into view.

The large paved driveway lead up to a white mansion. At the front there were several stairs leading up to a large porch which spanned the entire front of the building. Four large columns supported an overhang which served as shelter for the porch. As the cab pulled up to the front doors, Kagome began to dig out the money that she had received with the letter. She paid the ridiculously large fare and walked up to the house. Before she had a chance to knock, the door opened and she was greeted by a middle aged woman.

"Welcome, you have been expected." The woman said as she stepped back to allow Kagome entrance into the house.

"Er…thank you." Kagome replied, a bit baffled at the woman's sudden appearance. Then again, everyone in the house could probably have sensed her arrival.

"This way," the woman said as she walked down a hall to the left. The woman led Kagome to end of the hall and showed her into a room which looked much like her aunt's study. "They will be right with you." Kagome nodded as the woman bowed and walked out of the room. She wondered idly who "they" were. She walked further into the room, taking in the décor. There was a large mahogany desk in front of the far wall with two large, upholstered chairs in front. To her right was a set of large double glass doors that lead onto a large patio. A fair sized pond surrounded by large oak trees could be seen beyond the patio. The walls of the room were lined with enormous book cases. Most of the volumes contained in the book cases seemed to be really old, possibly first editions. She had never seen so many books outside of a library before.

Kagome turned as she heard the door open behind her. She watched as a tall man with unbelievably long, white hair entered the room. He carried himself very purposely and gave off a regal vibe. Although he was dressed simply, black trousers with a deep blue sweater, the effect was nothing less than striking.

Behind was a guy around Kagome's age, his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail high on his head. He was dressed in the style of a normal high school teen, baggy jeans and a t-shirt.

"Welcome, Kagome. Please have a seat." The older man said as he motioned to one of the upholstered chairs.

"Thank you." Kagome replied as she took a seat. The white haired man sat behind the desk while the one with the black hair sat in the other chair to Kagome's left.

"My name is Sesshomaru and I will be the one overseeing your duties. As you know, the Order of Malevolence has been increasing in its activity during the past couple of weeks. Therefore, every Guardian is needed. You, along with your partner and other Guardians, will maintain a constant watch for any suspicious activity within your given area. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, you will report to me before investigating further. Do you understand?" Kagome nodded. He sure knew how to get to the point. "Good. In turn, you will be notified of any activity that comes to my attention. You will also be ready to take action when ever you are called upon. Your current patrolling area will be within a five mile radius of the high school you currently attend. Are you clear on everything?"

"Everything except one sir." Kagome replied

"And what may that be?"

"Who is to be my partner?"

"Kouga," Sesshomaru replied, motioning to the boy at Kagome's left. Kagome gave him startled glance before looking back to Sesshomaru. "He has already been working in this area for a few years and will be able to answer any questions you may have about your duties. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some pressing matters to deal with. Good day to you both." He concluded as he rose from his seat. The boy named Kouga did the same and Kagome followed suit. Once outside the office, Sesshomaru turned to the older woman from before.

"Yuki, please call a cab to take these two home and show them out."

"Of course sir," the woman bowed and motioned for Kagome and Kouga to follow her. The entered the front room and were told to take a seat on the couch that sat in the middle of the room.

"I will be back when your transportation has arrived." Yuki said as she disappeared through another door. Kagome didn't know what to do or say. Luckily for her, Kouga took the intiative and started a conversation.

"So, you're new to the guard huh?"

"Yes, I am." Kagome said and gave him a small smile.

"Well, don't worry. I'll take good care of you." He winked as he said this last bit and put his arm around her. _Just what I need,_ thought Kagome, _This is going to be one long ride home._

**And there's Chapter 3. Who would have thought Miroku to be a genius in math? **

**Any way, I don't think I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. If anyone thinks it could use a revision feel free to tell me so and give me any suggestions you may have. As always, please review if you took the time to read it and thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. Hopefully the next chapter won't be so long in coming. **


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any characters related to the series. This disclaimer will remain in effect for the rest of the story, mostly because writing them is too depressing. ;) **

**A/N: Hey to all the readers. I have a few announcements to make. First of all, please keep an eye on the rating because it may go up within the next few chapters. (Not too much but just so you're all aware.) And secondly, chapter 2 has been revised with 3 to follow shortly. No real big difference as far as the plot goes. I just wasn't too happy with the fluidity and voice in those chapters. Next, thanks to Nessya for being the only one to review Chapter 3. Really people, reviews help. If you don't like something, please let me know how I could change it. Don't force me to start making threats. And lastly, Thanks to The Elven Daughter for helping me iron out some details in one of the upcoming scenes. Ok, I'll stop rambling now. On to Chapter 4!**

**Chapter 4 **

Kagome sat at the kitchen table and stared out the window. She watched idly as two sparrows fought over a scrap of discarded food, the smaller one chasing a larger one around the yard. Today was Sunday, her last day of freedom before she had to go back to school. Saturday had passed by uneventfully. She had spent most of the day doing her homework because she knew that there wouldn't be any time to do so today. Sango had called later Friday evening to tell Kagome that she had forgotten about a family obligation she had on Saturday and asked if it was all right if they went to the movie on Sunday instead. Kagome had agreed and the girls decided to go shopping before the movie since Kagome was in desperate need of some casual clothing.

Kagome chuckled to herself as the larger sparrow gave up avoiding the other and relinquished the piece of food, which she now saw to be half of an old cracker. To her it had seemed as if the larger bird gave it away just to shut the smaller one up. Kagome could relate. After all, she did have a little brother. At that moment, the doorbell rang. Knowing that it was most likely Sango, Kagome got up to answer it.

"Oh, hey Sango." Kagome heard her brother say as he beat her to the front door.

"Hey, Souta. Is Kagome around?"

"Yep. Kagome!" Souta shouted over his shoulder, obviously not realizing that she was standing behind him.

"No need to shout, Souta. I'm right here." She chastised.

"Whoops, sorry. I didn't see you there."

"Obviously," Kagome replied while Sango gave her an amused smile.

"Are you ready to go?" Sango asked

"Yeah, just let me get my coat." Kagome replied as she walked over to the closet and retrieved her jacket. "Souta, tell mom I'll be back after the movie."

"You got it." Souta replied, giving Kagome a thumbs-up. Kagome waved back and shut the door behind her as she turned to walk down the driveway to the vehicle that Sango had borrowed from her mother. It was a silver Doge Carivan which Sango had affectionately dubbed "The Loser Cruiser."

"So, how was that family thing you had to go to yesterday?" Kagome asked, turning towards Sango after they had pulled out of the driveway.

"It was OK, kind of boring if you ask me. You know how those family things go." Sango replied without elaborating.

"Yeah." Kagome nodded and looked straight ahead.

"What about you? How was your Saturday?"

"It was really nothing special. I just hung around the house and did homework."

"Homework on a Saturday? That goes against every teenager's sense of propriety."

"Even yours?" Kagome asked.

"Of course, what kind of high school student would I be if I didn't leave everything until the last minute?"

"Oh, I don't know. The passing kind?" Kagome teased as they rounded the corner of the park that was a few blocks down the road from the Higurashi Shrine.

"Point taken." Sango laughed. "So what about that meeting you had on Friday?" Sango asked, obviously fishing for more information than Kagome had given her the day before.

"It was…interesting." Kagome replied, recalling the cab ride home with Kouga.

"_Your cab has arrived." Yuki said as she reappeared from the door she had left through earlier. _

"_Thank you." Kagome replied as she jumped up from her seat and all but ran out the door. It wasn't that she really disliked Kouga; he just needed to back off a bit. OK, he needed to back off a lot. Despite her haste to get to the car, Kouga had somehow beaten her there. He was holding the door open, waiting for her to get in first. _

"_Um, thanks." She said a bit hesitantly as she got into the cab. She really didn't want to encourage him any further. He shut her door and walked around the other side. Once he had gotten in and closed his door the driver asked where they were heading. After both passengers had given their addresses the driver took off down the long driveway. _

"_So," Kouga began, "how do you like it here so far?" _

"_It's nice." Kagome replied, really not up to making small talk at the moment. _

"_Well, that's nice. You know, I could show you around if you want?" _

"_No thanks, that's all right." _

"_Oh come on," he pressed as he moved in closer to Kagome, "It'll be fun." _

"_No, really, I'm quite capable of finding my way around." Kagome responded a bit more forcefully. This guy just couldn't take a hint. _

"_Well, if you change your mind you know where to find me." _

"_Sure thing." Kagome said as she scooted as far away from him as the cab would allow and turned her attention to looking out the window. They continued the rest of the ride in silence, Kouga only breaking it to say goodbye when the cab pulled up to Kagome's house. She had never been more thrilled to see her home in her life. _

"Earth to Kagome."

"Hmm?" Kagome said as her attention was drawn back to the present.

"I said we're here." Sango replied with an amused look on her face as she turned off the engine.

"Oh, OK." Kagome said as the girls exited the van and made their way through the front entrance to the mall. Inside were hundreds of people, all milling about, searching for that perfect outfit, that perfect birthday gift, or just plain window shopping. Kagome couldn't help but be a little jealous of these people.

"Where to?" Sango asked as they walked by numerous shops and kiosks.

"Well, I'm not really sure. It's been a while since I last went shopping."

"Let's see," Sango said as she took a look around, "We could start over at Banana Republic. Or, there's always Pac Sun and Old Navy."

"Sounds good to me." Kagome shrugged.

"Then it's settled." Sango declared and proceeded to drag Kagome off into the throng of happy patrons.

"Sango," Kagome protested, "I'd like to keep my arm attached to my shoulder if you wouldn't mind!"

"Whoops, sorry." Sango said a bit sheepishly as they entered the first store and began to wander around the racks. Kagome decided to start out by hunting down some pairs of jeans and made her way over to that section of the store. When she got there she immediately realized that she was in over her head. She had never imagined that there could be so many different styles. How many different cuts and washes could the possibly be? Well, there was only one way to find out. Kagome picked up a couple pairs of jeans, which she presumed to be in her size, and walked off towards the dressing rooms.

A few hours later, it was apparent that the girls had been successful in pursuing their goal. Kagome was loaded down with bags from various stores and Sango had found a few things for herself as well. The movie was set to start in an hour and the girls had decided to catch a meal at the food court before going to the theater. The girls chattered happily as they waited in line to order, blissfully unaware of the two guys who were watching them from behind. They remained unnoticed as the girls received their food and moved off to find a table.

After finishing their meal, Kagome and Sango walked back to the van to deposit their bags before walking across the parking lot to the movie theatre. After locking up their purchases in the van, the girls crossed the parking lot and got in line to buy tickets for the movie. The line was relatively short and the two teenagers went to take their seats to wait for the movie to begin.

-:-

"I don't believe this," InuYasha moaned, "so much trouble over some stupid girl."

"She is not stupid, InuYasha, and no one's forcing you to be here." Miroku chastised as the guy behind the counter handed him a tub of popcorn.

"I still don't see why we have to go see the same movie as they are." InuYasha continued, deciding to ignore Miroku's last statement. "Honestly, I have no interest in seeing some _children's_ movie."

"We're going to the same movie to ensure that we get out at the same time they do, and if you don't quit whining you can walk home."

"Feh," was all the hanyou had to say in response as he followed his friend into the theater and took his seat in the back row.

-:-

Two hours and twelve minutes later the theater began to empty of its current occupants. Kagome and Sango walked down the stairs, made a sharp left turn, and continued on their way out of the theater.

"Well, that was pretty good." Sango said in a thoughtful tone.

"Yeah, but somehow I thought that Aslan's resurrection would be a little more dramatic."

"Hmm… I guess you have a-" Sango stopped short, causing Kagome to run into her from behind.

"Sango, what's wrong?" Kagome asked as she walked around her frozen friend. Coming up level with Sango, Kagome followed her friend's icy glare to see what had caused her stop mid stride. There, standing in front of her, were Miroku and InuYasha.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Sango hissed.

"Just enjoying a movie, is there something wrong with that?" Miroku asked as he walked past her, InuYasha shaking his head as he followed.

"Yes, there is something wrong. You came here on purpose." Sango accused as she moved to catch up with the guys.

"Well of course I came here on purpose," he replied as he turned around to face her, "do you think I came to see a movie on accident?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"I do?" Miroku asked with an innocent look.

"Oh for Kami's sake!" InuYasha said as he threw up his hands in frustration. Kagome just glanced from one person to the next, trying hard to figure out what exactly this was all about.

"Yes, you do." Sango stated as she grabbed Miroku around the elbow and dragged him down the hall, leaving InuYasha and Kagome to stare at one another. An awkward silence ensued and Kagome couldn't help but fidget.

"What do you think that was all about?" She asked, trying to break the tension.

"How in the world should I know? Do I look like I care?" InuYasha replied harshly.

"Yeesh, I was just asking. No need to rip my head off." Kagome pouted.

"Humph," was all he had to say. Just then they heard a loud slap reverberate down the hall. When the two teenagers turned to see what had happened they saw Sango running towards them. She didn't even bother to slow down when she reached the spot where Kagome was standing. Kagome huffed and gave chase, leaving InuYasha to stare at their retreating backs.

Sango didn't stop until she had reached the car. She hastily unlocked the doors, climbed in the driver's seat, and waited for Kagome. A few minutes later, Kagome climbed in the passenger's side and gently closed the door. Rather than pressing the issue, Kagome decided to wait and see if Sango would explain anything. It became apparent that Sango had no intention of clarifying the situation.

"Look," Kagome sighed, "I know you don't want to tell me what's going on between you and Miroku and I won't force you to. I just want to let you know that I'm here to listen if you ever feel like explaining." Kagome glanced at her friend, who was staring at the road intently. After a few moments, Sango gave a small nod of acknowledgement. Satisfied, for the time being, Kagome turned her attention frontward. _Besides, _she thought to herself, _I'll just get Miroku to tell me tomorrow. Either that or I'll kill him faster than he can solve the algebra homework._

-:-

Kagome had half expected to walk to school alone on Monday and was pleasantly surprised when Sango showed up her usual time. However, the walk was a silent one as Sango had no desire to elaborate on the events of the previous night and Kagome didn't want to pry.

When the girls arrived at the front entrance Sango told Kagome that she wouldn't be able to eat lunch with her as she had a mandatory meeting with her guidance counselor. Kagome assured her that it was no big deal and they turned to go to their respective classes.

Kagome reached the math room, her gaze instantly drawn to the seat in the back that belonged to Miroku. He was there and was, unbelievably, surrounded by the usual group of mindless twits, all vying for his attention. Kagome dropped her book bag by her seat and continued down the isle to where Miroku sat.

"Excuse us, ladies, but I have something I need to discuss with Miroku." She said as she fixed the teenaged boy with an icy glare.

"Who do you think you are?" A particularly busty blonde asked in a defiant tone. "You can't order us around."

"I said beat it!" Kagome replied, her voice taking on a dangerous edge. Miroku gulped and nodded to the blonde who grumbled to herself as she got up and went back to her own seat, the others following suit.

"Something wrong, Kagome?" Miroku asked, his voice uncharacteristically high.

"Don't play dumb with me." She said as she leaned over, placing one hand on his desk and bringing her face within inches of his. "I want an explanation and you will give me one or I will make your life a living hell, got it?" Miroku nodded, his eyes going wide as saucers.

"Good," she continued and began to move away, "see you in study hall then." With a small wave over her shoulder she returned to her seat and prepared for the beginning of class.

"What was that about?" Ayame asked as she leaned over from the row next to Kagome.

"Nothing you need concern yourself with." Kagome replied. Ayame shrugged and went back to her textbook.

Kagome's mood didn't improve much over the first half of the day. Her teachers seemed to be thinking alike, each one assigning a mountain of homework for the next day. By the time lunch rolled around Kagome had worked herself into a deep funk, from which she had no intention of returning. Consequently, she sat at a lunch table stabbing her food with her fork. Ayame regarded her carefully, not wanting to be on the receiving end of Kagome's anger. She had no intention of ending up like that broccoli stalk. After a few minutes of staring at said stalk, Kagome realized that some one was standing next to her chair. Kagome turned to her left with every intention of telling who ever it was off when she lost all powers of speech. Standing in front of her, in a school uniform no less, was Kouga. She couldn't believe it. This was _not _happening.

Kouga proceeded to set his tray down at the table, making himself at home. Obviously, he hadn't noticed Kagome's unbelieving stare. He gave a smile and a small nod to Ayame, who was also gapping at him, albeit for different reasons.

"And how are you doing today?" He asked as he turned to Kagome, who was still in a state of shock.

"You know him?" Ayame asked, a hint of awe lacing her voice. Shaking her head, Kagome came back to her senses.

"Uh, yeah. Kouga, this is Ayame. Ayame, this is Kouga." She said, gesturing to each person in turn.

"Pleasure." Kouga said a bit curtly and turned his attention back to Kagome. "Do you always eat lunch alone?" he asked.

"I am not alone." Kagome responded, noting the semi hurt look on Ayame's face.

"What I meant to say is, I would have though a girl like you would have a whole group of friends to eat with." He amended.

"Girl like me?" Kagome repeated incredulously.

"You know, smart, beautiful…" Kagome shook her head. She couldn't believe this guy. She had spent maybe two hours with him, all the while sending him hints that she wasn't interested in him, and he was _still_ hitting on her.

"Ah, I see." Kagome said as she began to gather up her stuff.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Kouga asked, a frown coming to his lips.

"Chemistry class, don't wanna be late. I'll see you in English Lit. Ayame."

"Sure thing!" Ayame said cheerfully, obviously elated that she was being left alone with Kouga. Kagome winced as she heard Ayame trying to strike up a conversation while she walked away from the table.

As she walked down the hall towards the chemistry room, Kagome remembered what was on the schedule for toady. It was lab day. That meant that she would actually have to try and cooperate with InuYasha today. Kagome gave an inward groan as she entered the class room. Thankfully, there was only one other person in the room, it being a bit early and all. She took her seat and began to look over the day's assignment, something to do with dimensional analysis and percent yield. She barely took any notice as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang and students began to file in.

Once the class was situated the teacher began to explain the lab. Their job was to obtain a strip of magnesium from the front lab bench, weigh it, place it a crucible, and heat it over a Bunsen burner for several minutes. The idea was that by heating it the metal would be converted to magnesium oxide. The students would then have to weigh the final product and determine the percent yield, using the overall balanced chemical equation. Easy right?

Well, unfortunately for Kagome, InuYasha wasn't in the cooperating sort of mood. He had just decided to sit back and let Kagome run the experiment. OK, so she didn't mind so much when it came to getting the actual data. The experiment itself wasn't that hard. The hard part came when they had to do the calculations. When she asked InuYasha how he thought they should go about the problem he just shrugged and looked out the window. By then, Kagome had had enough. First the whole thing with Miroku, then Kouga decided to make a grand entrance, and now this.

"That's it!" She exclaimed as she slammed her pencil down on the lab bench, earning a raised eyebrow from InuYasha. "

Excuse me, but what is your problem?"

"My problem?" InuYasha asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes, your problem. Here I am, trying to be nice and at least tolerate your company and all you can do is sit there and not even take notice of my existence. Not to mention the fact you're being graded on lab work that _I've_ done all by myself!"

"Feh, I don't need to explain anything to you." He sneered. Kagome opened her mouth to retort but was cut short as she suddenly felt extremely lightheaded. She put a hand to her head in an attempt to quell the sensation when she was blinded by a bright light. All of a sudden, she was standing in front of her family shrine and she couldn't stop the scream of terror that tore its way from her throat. The entire shrine was on fire and she could hear screams coming from within the main house. She tried to run to her family's aid but it was no use. Something was holding her in place. She let out a sob as she sunk to her knees in defeat. Looking at her hands, she noticed that they were covered in blood. Whose blood, she wasn't sure. _What's happening?_ She all but screamed. All around her the fire was closing in.

"Kagome! Kagome!"

Kagome was vaguely aware of someone shouting her name.

"You, go get the nurse!" The voice said and running footsteps could be heard.

"Kagome, snap out of it!" Kagome looked up to see InuYasha staring down at her. She soon realized that they were kneeling on the chemistry room floor, InuYasha shaking her by the shoulders. "Kagome, what's wrong?" he asked again, concern evident in his voice.

"I don't know." She whispered before passing out in InuYasha's arms.

-:-

**Whoa, that chapter turned nothing like I had planned. 0.0 To be honest, I had more in store for this chapter but then it would have gotten too long. Well, now it's your turn people. Like I said, reviews are helpful, especially if you didn't like it. If that is the case, please tell me what you didn't like and why. Constructive criticism is always welcome. And I promise that the next chapter will go deeper into the actual plot of the story. Well, until next time **

**C.S.J. **

**P.S. REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm sooo sorry it took so long for me to get this update out. Life sort of got in the way…you know how it goes. Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed. It's nice to know that the last chapter was received well. One announcement I'd like to make, I will be posting any notes regarding my current writing status on my profile so check there if I haven't updated for a while for an explanation. Also, if anyone who submits a review has a story they would like me to review I would be happy to return the favor. Ok, now on to Chapter 5!**

**Chapter 5**

"Is everything in order?" asked a tall, cloaked figure of the man standing behind him. His back was turned as he stared out a window over the dark landscape.

"Yes my lord, all preparations are going according to schedule."

"Good. It won't be long now. The end of The Guard is fast approaching."

"The others await your orders."

"Tell them to hold their positions. There is no rush. The target is now under our surveillance."

"Very well my lord." The servant bowed and scurried out of the room to take up his post once again. The cloaked man smirked.

_Yes, those fools are playing right into my hand. _

-:-:-:-:-

InuYasha couldn't sit still. He was currently in math class, drumming his pencil against his text book and not taking in a word of the teacher's lecture. After Kagome had passed out, one of the students had returned with the school nurse. The nurse promptly had Kagome carried down to the health wing. That was the last InuYasha had seen or heard of her and he was worried.

_Damnit! You are not worried about that stupid girl, _he berated himself mentally. _You've no reason to worry about her anyway._

"Mr. Tashio, perhaps detention would hold your attention better than my current lecture." The teacher snapped as she became impatient with InuYasha's continued mental absence. InuYasha let out a loud "humph" as he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his attention back to the front of the class. The teacher droned on with her lecture and InuYasha struggled to remain attentive. It didn't take long for his mind to wander back to the earlier events of the day. _Maybe she's sick or something,_ he thought intelligently. _Maybe I should go check on her._ InuYasha squirmed in his seat, a little uncomfortable with the idea. _After all, she is my friend._ At this he shook his head. _Was your friend, you idiot. You've no obligation to go check on her. _

InuYasha's thoughts continued along the same track for the rest of the period. He did, however, make one more conscious effort to tune in on the lecture after he received a rather nasty glare from the teacher. But it was no use and the teacher finally gave up, figuring that it really wasn't worth the trouble.

Twenty agonizing minutes later, the bell rang signaling the end of the class. The students packed up their book bags and filed out of the room, InuYasha somewhere in their midst. He exited the classroom and turned down the hall, not really aware of the direction in which his feet were taking him. InuYasha stopped short as he realized where he was; standing in a relatively quiet hall outside a door with "Nurse" stenciled on the window pane. He cast a confused glance down the hall. How had he gotten there? Figuring that he might as well go in since he was already there, InuYasha reached to open the door. However, he hadn't expected the door to fly open on its own accord and hit him square in the nose.

InuYasha cursed loudly as he took one, rather large, step backwards. His hands flew up to his throbbing nose as he searched for the person who had so rudely shoved the door into his face. He was greeted by the sight of a boy, roughly his age and height, sporting a long black ponytail and a high school uniform.

"Well, well," The boy started as a grin began to appear on his handsome features, "if it isn't the famous InuYasha."

"Do I know you?" InuYasha asked, in a somewhat nasally voice.

"I wouldn't expect you to." The boy replied with an arrogant tone. "My name's Kouga. You're the one who was with Kagome when she fainted." It sounded like more of a statement than an actual question.

"What of it?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just getting my facts straight. Is something wrong?" Kouga asked, gesturing to InuYasha's hands, which were still covering his injured nose. Noticing this, InuYasha quickly removed his hands and let them fall at his sides.

"I'm fine." He replied curtly. He really didn't like this Kouga guy.

"What are you doing here anyway? You're not here to see Kagome are you?" InuYasha looked off down the hall, obviously avoiding the question. "Look, she doesn't need you to worry about her." At this InuYasha snapped his head around to glare at Kouga.

"Who said anything about being worried? She collapsed on me, remember? I was just following up on her." Kouga narrowed his eyes.

"Well, you're too late. Her mom already came to pick her up fifteen minutes ago. Not that it's any of your business. You'd do well to stay away from my Kagome." He said as he pushed past InuYasha and continued down the hall.

_His Kagome?_ InuYasha thought with a confused look. Shaking his head, InuYasha turned towards the front entrance of the school and hurried out, fully intent on skipping his final class. Who needed Gym anyway?

-:-:-:-

Kagome sat at the kitchen table, sipping a steaming cup of chamomile tea. Her mother had said that it would help calm her down, but so far it wasn't working. No matter what she did she couldn't get the image of the burning shrine out of her mind.

_What does it all mean?_ She thought as she pinched her eyes shut. She had spent the last twenty minutes trying to come up with reasons for that horrible vision. What made it worse was the fact that she had never had visions before. She had never displayed even the slightest hint of precognition during her time at her aunt's. Why now? After a few more minutes of contemplation the door bell rang.

"Mom, you got it?" She called down the hall. All she got in response was silence. As the door bell rang a second time, Kagome sighed and got up from her chair. She trudged down the hall, not really in the mood for any human contact. Once she reached the door she grasped the knob and turned it, granting the person on the other side admittance. What she saw caused her to stop dead. Standing on the other side of the door was InuYasha, looking a bit sheepish. Her eyebrows drew together in a confused frown. She had expected Sango to show up at some point in time, but InuYasha? She couldn't help but stare.

"Are you just going to stand there and stare all day?" Kagome jumped as InuYasha's gruff words pulled her back into reality.

"Sorry." she replied quickly. "Don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?" InuYasha fidgeted while he tried to come up with a plausible answer. He couldn't just tell her that he came to check up on her.

"I…well," he struggled for an explanation. _Come on, think!_ "You left without the lab data. I figured you'd need it to write the report." He blurted out. He pulled off his backpack and reached inside for his lab notebook.

"Oh, thanks." She felt a little disappointed. Part of her had hoped that he had been worried about her. She chased that thought out of her head as she stepped aside to let him into the house.

"I'll go get my notebook so I can copy down the information." She said as she made her way back towards the kitchen, motioning for InuYasha to follow. He did so a little reluctantly. When they reached the kitchen, Kagome picked her book bag up off of the floor and pulled out a notebook and pencil. InuYasha handed her his notebook, which was already open to the page with the day's lab results. Kagome sat down at the table and began to copy the notes.

While Kagome worked, InuYasha occupied himself by looking around the kitchen. It looked a lot like it did when he had been inside the house last. The large dinning table was still in the same place it had been years ago as were the other large appliances. The walls had been repainted from their previous off white color to a somber blue with white accent. The patterned linoleum was still the same. InuYasha became aware of footsteps making their way towards the kitchen. He glanced up to see Mrs. Higurashi walking down the hall.

"Kagome, who was at the door?" She asked having yet to notice InuYasha. Kagome looked up from her notebook and nodded her head in InuYasha's direction.

"Well, it certainly has been a long time since I've seen you. How have you been?"

"All right."

"What brings you here?"

"Kagome left without the information from today's Chemistry lab. I figured she'd need the data since the report is due tomorrow."

"Well, that was nice of you." Mrs. Higurashi gave him a warm smile. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink?" It was then that the door bell rang, signaling the arrival of another visitor.

"I'll get it. You two keep working." Mrs. Higurashi walked back down the hall to answer the door. Kagome nodded to her mother and then looked up at InuYasha noticing the state of his nose for the first time.

"Umm...what happened to your nose?" She asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"What are you talking about?"

"You nose, it's all bruised and swollen."

"It's nothing. You almost finished?" InuYasha asked in an impatient tone.

"Just give me a few more minutes." She replied in an exasperated tone. This guy had absolutely no patience.

"Kagome, you have another visitor." Mrs. Higurashi said as she returned to the kitchen. Kagome looked up from her work to see who her mother was talking about. It took all her self control not groan and bang her head against the table. Today just wasn't her day.

"What do you want?" InuYasha asked as he stared Kouga down.

"InuYasha." Kagome said in a warning tone.

"I just figured I'd stop by and see how Kagome was fairing. You see, I actually care about her wellbeing." InuYasha let out a rather intimidating growl at Kouga's words but Kouga chose to ignore it as he walked around the table and stood next to Kagome's chair.

"Are you going to be here much longer? There are some rather important things I need to discuss with Kagome."

"And what would _you_ have to say to her?"

"None of your business Dog Turd."

"Feh, whatever. I'll see you in lab, Kagome." InuYasha said as he slung his bag over his shoulder and let himself out. As soon as she heard the door slam Kagome rounded on Kouga.

"What do you think you're doing?" She hissed. "You had no right to talk to him like that." Kouga just shrugged and sat down at the table.

"Well, unless you have some urgent news to relate, I would appreciate it if you left. I'm still not feeling too well."

"Actually, there was something I'm supposed to discuss with you. You're little stunt today is bound to have some serious repercussions." Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was actually blaming her for that horrible vision.

"I didn't do it on purpose you know."

"It doesn't matter how it happened. All that maters is that every Guardian in the area felt the flare in your power. And it's doubtless that the incident went unnoticed by the Order."

"Wait; there are other Guardians in the area besides us?"

"Of course, didn't your trainer tell you anything? There's always more than one team of Guardians working in the same area."

"Then why wasn't I told who they are?"

"For protection of course. The only people who are aware of a guardian's identity are the person's partner, trainer, and senior officer. That way, if one of us is captured the identities of the others are kept secret." Kagome nodded. It made perfect sense. "But I'm getting off the subject. The problem is that you have given away our position to any agents of the Order in the area."

"Again, I didn't do it on purpose. It just sort of happened."

"Either way, we're going to have to be extra cautious now that the Order has been alerted to our presence here. I think we should do a sweep of the area tomorrow night. Maybe we'll run into something."

"Well, if you think that's what's best…" Kagome conceded reluctantly. She really didn't want to spend the whole night looking for demons that may cause trouble.

"I do. Now, I should be going. There are some things I need to see to. I'll talk to you tomorrow at school." Kouga said as he stood up from his chair. Kagome got up as well and saw him out the door. After he had left, Kagome flopped down on the living room couch. Things couldn't get much worse.

-:-:-:-:-

**A/N: Okay, there you go. Sorry for taking so long. Now, push the little button and leave a review if you want to see the next installment. **


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: I had this story ready to on Saturday but wouldn't let me sign in so it's not completely my fault that his story is late. Still, sorry it's a week late, that is my fault. I haven't been feeling well lately. I may end having surgery inside of a few weeks so I'll try my best to update each weekend but I don't know how well it will work. Also, finals are coming up in two weeks so things are a little crazy. **

**I posted the first chapter to another story so if you have the time to read and review it I would appreciate it. **

**Chapter 6 **

"How go the preparations?"

"Well, my lord. The target will appear in Marion Park just past sundown. Hiten and Manten have been dispatched to the area. They should be arriving as we speak."

"Very well, make sure everything goes smoothly. You know how important the target is to us."

"Yes sir." The wind sorceress bowed and went to oversee the rest of the night's plans, leaving her master by himself.

-:-:-:-:-

Everyone kept staring at her. She knew they were talking about her as well. Every time she entered a room it would get deathly quiet. Was she really all the school had to talk about?

The day had begun normally enough. Sango had stopped by to see if Kagome was up to going to school and Kagome had said that she was. Her mother had tried to get her to stay home, insisting that she should take the day to rest and not push it. Kagome had disagreed. Besides, she still needed to grill Miroku about what had happened at the movies a few nights ago.

Math had been uneventful, as had the rest of Kagome's morning classes, excluding the weird stares and the whispers behind her back. She had spent most of the morning dreading her upcoming chemistry class. It was scheduled to be a work day for each lab group to write up the lab report, which was due at the end of the class. This meant that she would have to spend the entire class period trying to get InuYasha to cooperate or she would have do the lab report herself, neither of which sounded appealing.

Kagome stabbed at her cafeteria macaroni and cheese with her fork. The food only succeeded in making her mood plummet even more. There's nothing worse than mac and cheese from a cafeteria.

"Are you feeling all right?" Sango asked. Kagome had continued to sink deeper and deeper into her funk over the course of lunch.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You've seemed kind of depressed lately." Ayame stated as she leaned across the table towards Kagome.

"I'm sure. I guess I'm just a little tired. I was up late last night doing the English Lit. homework." Truthfully, she hadn't been able to sleep at all. Any time she tried to go to sleep she would end up seeing the vision all over again.

"Yeah, me too. There's nothing like leaving a five page paper until the last minute."

"No kidding." Sango and Ayame continued to discuss their English papers while Kagome returned to her macaroni.

Several moments later, Ayame began to choke on her lunch.

"Are you all right?" Sango said, a confused look on her face.

"Don' look now, but he's coming over."

"Who's coming over?"

"That Kouga guy!" Ayame exclaimed as she swept her fingers through her hair, making sure nothing was out of place. For some reason, Kagome didn't share Ayame's enthusiasm. She did her best to keep her attention on her food as Kouga proceeded to her side of the table.

"Hi Kouga, how are you?" Ayame asked, stars in her eyes. Kouga ignored her and sat down next to Kagome.

"Can I help you?" She asked, finally acknowledging his presence.

"I was just making sure that you remembered what tonight is."

"How could I forget?" Kagome muttered.

"What's tonight?" Ayame chirped, completely undeterred by Kouga's previous behavior towards her.

"None of your business."

"Yes Kouga, I remember. Was there anything else?"

"No, but I'm sure I could think of something."

"Goodbye Kouga." Kagome said, her tone threatening bodily harm if he dared to disobey.

Kouga raised his hands in defense. "Okay, I'm going. I'll see you at your house around six. We can walk from there."

"Fine," Kagome replied a bit curtly. Taking the hint, Kouga stood and turned to leave.

"Bye Kouga!" Ayame waved enthusiastically, only to be ignored once again.

Sango let out a disgusted sigh. "Why are you being so nice to him?"

"Don't you have eyes? He's completely and utterly gorgeous." Kagome had to resist the urge to vomit.

"So?" Sango continued. "He's arrogant and rude. Not to mention the fact that he completely ignored you."

"That's not the point. Who knows? Maybe it's an act. He could be a really sweet guy underneath."

"Don't hold your breath."

"Trust me, Ayame. He's not worth the trouble." Kagome said, joining the conversation.

"Oh really?" Ayame didn't sound convinced. "This coming from the girl who just happens to have a date with him this very evening."

"It's not a date!"

"What is it then?" Sango teased.

"He's just…helping me out with my math homework." Kagome lied quickly.

"I thought that Miroku was helping you with your math during study hall." Sango pointed out.

"He is. It's just that I need more help than study hall allows and, well, Miroku doesn't have time after school so Kouga offered to help."

"But, Kouga's not in our class." Ayame frowned.

"He's in a different hour."

"But…" It was then that the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and cut Ayame off. Kagome sent a silent thanks to whatever god was watching over her as she gathered her things and went to put her tray away. After depositing their trays in the appropriate window, the girls said their goodbyes and walked off to their respective classes. From the table behind them, Miroku and InuYasha did the same.

Upon entering the chemistry room Kagome scanned the class for InuYasha, who was no where to be seen. _Typical,_ she thought,_ he'll probably be late, as usual. _She sat down at her table and pulled out her lab data.

After a few minutes, the bell rang and the teacher got up to explain what they would be doing for the period. Not one to miss his entrance, InuYasha sauntered into the room. By this point in the semester the teacher had given up trying to get InuYasha to show up on time for class. InuYasha took his seat and the teacher told the class what he expected from the lab reports. After putting the requirements on the board, he set the class lose to do their work.

Kagome sighed and opened her lab notebook.

"So, to come up with the percent yield we need to calculate the theoretical yield first. Right?" Kagome was stunned. Was InuYasha actually trying to work _with_ her on the lab report? "Anyone home?"

Kagome shook her head and looked back at the lab data. "Yeah, I think that's right. We'll need to take the actual yield and divide it by what the equation says we should have come up with." InuYasha nodded and pulled a calculator from his back pack.

Kagome couldn't believe it. Ten minutes until the end of class and InuYasha was still being civil towards her. He had been an active participant in writing the report and he hadn't yelled at her once. Kagome was beginning to think that she was dreaming. He had practically written the discussion section on his own. Something had to be going on. She watched him as he went to turn in the lab report, trying to figure out what could have prompted this sudden change in attitude.

"Is something wrong?" InuYasha asked as he returned to his seat.

"No." She replied as she realized she had been staring at him.

"You know something?" he asked as he eyed her suspiciously. "You're weird."

"_I'm_ weird?"

"Yep." With that, he turned to a boy sitting at the table across the row signaling the end of the conversation. Shaking her head, Kagome decided she would try to get a head start on her math homework.

-:-:-:-:-

An hour or so later, Kagome was on her way to her study hall in the library. English Lit. had been interesting. As usual, the teacher hadn't spent as much time teaching as she should have. She spent most of the period rambling on about random topics, which was fine by the students. Today hadn't been any different. The first part of the period she had produced a cell phone and recruited the class to sing "Happy Birthday" to her son, who was away at college. The rest of the class was spent talking about people's best and worst birthday parties. However, she still remembered to assign homework for the night. Go figure.

Kagome entered the library, signed in, and then scanned the tables for Miroku. She still had to decide if she wanted him to help her with the math homework first or if she wanted to get him to tell her what was going on between him and Sango first. Getting help with the math first ensured that he would be in an agreeable mood and, most likely, wouldn't refuse. However, the math may take a considerable amount of time and then there wouldn't be time to discuss other things. Decisions, decisions.

Not seeing him, she walked over to a table that was situated off to the side. She figured she might as well attempt the homework on her own, so she pulled out her text book and looked over the problems. Surprisingly, they didn't seem all that difficult to her anymore. Well, that settled it then. She wouldn't waste any time on stupid math problems.

She glanced back at the door just in time to see her prey enter the library. He glanced around the room with nervous look on his face. The instant he spotted her he turned and took off through the stacks. _Oh no you don't_, Kagome thought as she got up to follow him. She walked over to the aisle down which he had disappeared. She walked down the row and tried to figure out which way he would have gone.

_Crap, he could be anywhere._ Kagome stood at the end of the row, trying to figure out what to do next. Then she got an idea. She looked around her to see if anyone was watching. After confirming she was alone, she closed her eyes and concentrated. She sifted through the auras of the students in the library, trying to lock on to a specific one. Finally zeroing in on Miroku's signature, she took off down the row to her left. Her aunt would have her head if she ever found out how Kagome had used her training just find a boy hiding in a library. Shaking the thought from her head, Kagome took another left.

She smirked to herself as she came to the end of the row in which he was hiding. Leave it to Miroku to be crouched behind the shelves of the romance section.

"Looking for something _interesting_ to read?" Kagome asked, tilting her head to the side. Miroku jumped out of surprise, which caused him to lose his balance and fall into the self, knocking several books off along the way. Kagome couldn't help it, she started laughing.

"Oh can it, would you?" Mirkou asked, rather irritated that he had been caught hiding from a girl, especially in the romance section of a library.

"You just made things worse by running." Kagome said as she bent down to pick up the books he had knocked off the shelf. "Now I'll have to let everyone know where you get all your inspiration when it comes to girls." Miroku paled.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I just might dare. That is, if you don't tell me what I want to know." Miroku sighed. He knew he was defeated.

"All right. Lead the way." Miroku stood and Kagome walked passed him to return to her table. Kagome sat in the same seat she had occupied earlier while Miroku sat across from her.

"What do you want to know?"

"What's going on between you and Sango?"

"Nothing."

"Uh huh, right. So she just slapped you at the movie theater for fun."

"What I meant was, there's nothing going on now. She's made it perfectly clear that she wants nothing to do with me."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"What did you do to make her so angry?" Honestly, boys could be so dense sometimes. Miroku began to fidget in his seat.

"She thinks I cheated on her." He finally admitted.

"What?" Kagome had to restrain herself from hitting him. Chances were, if she knocked him out she wouldn't be able to get his full side of the story.

Miroku sighed. This could take a while. "We started going out about five months ago. I guess she never told you when she wrote those letters." Kagome shook her head, confirming his speculation. "Well, after about four months, she saw me out with another girl."

"And how does that not count as 'cheating?' "

"It wasn't like that."

"Then what were you doing with this… other girl?"

"I…I can't tell you why I was with her. Just believe me when I say that there was nothing romantic about it."

"Why should I believe you?"

"I suppose you shouldn't. I wouldn't if I was you, or Sango for that matter." Kagome didn't know why, but she felt that he was sincere. Maybe it was the fact that he looked so sad during the whole discussion.

"Have you tried explaining things to her?"

"Sango won't listen, and I don't blame her. I haven't given her a reason to believe me."

"Well, just a thought but, it might help if you stopped flirting with every female in the school. You don't exactly paint a picture of fidelity about you."

"What do you mean?" He had to be kidding.

"Miroku, you don't lend much credibility to yourself when you chase after anything that moves."

"Why not? It's not as if I'm serious or anything."

Kagome shook her head. "That's not the point. The point is make yourself out to be a lech who can't keep his hands to himself." Miroku looked extremely confused.

"Women are weird." Kagome chuckled.

"Perhaps, but that's the way things are."

"I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore. She'll never give me a second chance."

"Never say never!" Kagome quipped. Miroku gave her a steely glare. "Okay, okay. I'll try and talk to her."

"You will?" Miroku was astonished. "So, you actually believe me?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure why. I'm not going to promise anything, though."

"Understood."

"Okay, on to a more depressing subject, math."

Miroku laughed, "Still having trouble are we?"

"Of course, it's math."

"Point taken. Show me what you need help with." Miroku pulled her math book over so he could see it while Kagome moved to sit next to him.

-:-:-:-:-

Kagome sat down at her desk to try and get the rest of her homework done before Kouga came to do "the rounds" as she had begun to call it. She really didn't expect much to happen tonight. The day had been a long and exhausting one and all she wanted to do was take a long, hot bath and crawl into bed.

After school had let out, Kagome had walked home alone. Sango had been taken out of school for another family event. Kagome wondered what sort of family events could get someone out of school. She hoped it wasn't anything bad, such as a dying family member. She supposed it was all for the best since she would have, undoubtedly, mentioned her earlier conversation with Miroku. Kagome couldn't envision that going over well, seeing as Sango had refused to tell Kagome anything herself. Why had she promised Miroku that she would talk to Sango? It really wasn't any of her business, but Kagome couldn't stand to see the hurt look on Miroku's face. She was thoroughly convinced that he was telling the truth but she still felt that there was something else going on.

The doorbell drew Kagome back to the present. Kagome glanced at the clock and found the time to be six' o'clock. Sighing, she got up from her desk and headed downstairs. When she reached the bottom, she met her mother.

"Oh, honey. I was just coming up to get you. Your friend Kouga is here."

"Thanks Mom. We'll be back later." Kagome replied as she retrieved her jacket out of the closet.

"Okay, be careful you two."

"Always. See you later. C'mon Kouga, let's get going." Kagome said as she opened the door. "Where did you want to start?"

"I was thinking we'd start at the school."

"Why the school?"

"Do you really think that only adults can be members of the Order when you yourself are a guardian?"

"No"

"Fine, the school it is. We can get there faster by cutting through the park." Kagome shrugged and let Kouga lead the way. Somehow, she figured he was used to having things his way.

They walked the couple blocks down the street to where the park began. They crossed the street and began walking down one of the paved paths through the trees.

"So, what exactly are we looking for anyway?"

"Anything suspicious."

_Well there's a surprise_, Kagome thought. _He could've elaborated._ She decided to keep her mouth shut,figuring it was probably best just to let him decide when they found what they were looking for. Kagome continued to get lost in her thoughts until she ran into something solid.

"What the…" She said when she realized that the thing she had run into was Kouga. He had stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" She asked, coming up beside him.

"Someone's here."

"Where?" Kagome asked, looking around frantically. All she saw was a bunch of trees and shrubs.

"Farther up the path." Kouga said as he started forward cautiously. Crouching low to the ground, Kouga moved off the path to seek cover under the trees. He motioned for Kagome to follow. Checking that no one saw, she moved to join him in the shrubs.

"You stay here, I'll go and check it out." Kagome nodded and Kouga disappeared to her left.

A moment or two later, Kagome heard a loud "oof" come from farther down the path. She surmised that it was probably Kouga taking out whoever had been walking towards them. The sounds of a struggle continued until Kagome heard Kouga yell.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was walking, you got a problem with that?" _Oh no_, Kagome recognized that voice. Deciding that she'd better go and run damage control, Kagome left her hiding spot to go find Kouga.

She hadn't gone far when she saw Kouga, pinning someone to a tree. That someone had long, white hair and looked extremely pissed off.

"Would you let me go you mangy wolf?" InuYasha growled.

"I don't know. I'm rather fond of the current situation. Now tell me, what are you doing out here?"

"I told you already, I was talking a walk. If you don't let me go now I promise you, you'll regret it."

"Kouga, let him go!" Kagome yelled. "He hasn't done anything." Kouga looked over his shoulder at Kagome's words. InuYasha saw his opening and slugged Kouga right in the jaw. Kouga let out a howl and stumbled backwards.

"You'll pay for that, dog turd!" Kouga said as he raised his arm to retaliate. Kagome immediately placed herself between the warring teens.

"Stop it! There's no reason for you two to fight!"

"Get out of the way, Kagome." Kouga warned.

"No! You…" But Kagome's attention was drawn to the trees above. Something flashed in the brances. The movement caught Kouga's eye as well. Suddenly, two large demons landed on either side of InuYasha.

"Well, well Manten, it looks like we'll get to have a little fun after all."

-:-:-:-:-

**End of Chapter 6. **

**CSJ: Does everyone know what time it is?**

**Audience: REVIEW TIME! **

**(Home Improvement anyone?) Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it. Now give the little button a work out and hopefully I'll be back with another update next week. Have a good week everyone! Ja ne!**

**CSJ **


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: I have an American Lit paper due, Genetics test on Mon. and Chemistry homework to do, but do I care? Not a bit. **

**Now before you go and kill me for taking so long to update, remember this: If you kill me you'll NEVER know what was going to happen :D Ok, now it's time for me to apologize for taking so long. Life got in the way, big time. Ok, I'll shut up now….on to chapter 7!**

**Chapter 7 **

Kagome stared in disbelief. This was not happening.

"Um… do we know you?" InuYasha asked, irritated that these two bozos were interrupting his fight.

"You should." The more human looking of the two said, sizing InuYasha up. "We're the Thunder Brothers."

"Thunder Who?"

Kagome prayed that InuYasha would get the picture and shut up.

"Looks like we're going to have to refresh his memory, Hiten." The larger one said as he shouldered past Kagome to stand next to his brother.

"With pleasure.Perhaps he'd like to take a little trip with us."

"Uhh… I don't think so. You guys smell like you've been rolling around in the sewers." InuYasha scrunched up his nose.

"You dare to insult us?"

"Yeah, I do." InuYasha said as he crossed his arms over his chest, proving that he did not posses the gene that told someone when to shut up.

"Well now, looks like we're going to have to teach this cretin some manners."

_Oh crap,_ Kagome thought, _we can't engage these two with InuYasha here._ Kagome deliberated as the brothers moved to flank InuYasha on both sides. Kouga, not the least bit concerned with discretion, flew into action. He launched himself at the larger brother and knocked him to the ground. Surprised by Kouga's daring Hiten moved in to help his brother.

Kagome saw her opening and took it. Seizing InuYasha by the shoulders she shoved him backwards. The poor hanyou tripped over a fallen tree and fell backwards into the forestry of the park.

Once InuYasha was successfully out of the way, Kagome spun around to asses Kouga's situation. He was holding his own, but barely. Both Hiten and Manten were steadily forcing him back. Kagome quickly switched on her other sight to see if there were any other people in the vicinity. Confident that no one would witness her next actions, Kagome raised her right hand to eyelevel, two fingers pointed out toward the demon Manten. Speaking the words of summoning she had learned so long ago, a whit hot arrow shot across the distance and pierced Manten through his mid back.

Hiten spun on his heel as a snarl of hatred escaped his lips while his brother fell to the ground. In a flash Hiten was inches from Kagome's face, preparing to attack.

"Hiten!" Manten screamed from his position on the ground. Hiten paused mid strike. A moment later a look of fear crossed his face. With speed that Kagome could barley follow, he raced to his brother's side and helped him up. Then, in another flash, they were gone.

Kagome blinked in surprise. _What could have possibly caused them to race off in such a hurry?_ Then she heard it, footsteps racing up the path towards them. She frowned. Why hadn't she sensed anyone in the area?

Kagome stared at the bend in the path, waiting for the new comers to show up. Behind her, Kouga regained his composure and tried to fix his disheveled clothing. He frowned at the tear in the left sleeve of his sweater.

When the owners of the footsteps cleared the bend all the two guardians could do was stare.

"Miroku?" Kagome asked.

"Kagome?"

"What are you doing here at this hour?"

"That is precisely what I want to know!" InuYasha yelled, finally removing himself from the tangled bushes.

"And you!" he continued, pointing at Kagome as he stomped over to her. "What in the Seven Hells was _that_ for?"

"Well…" Kagome struggled, "That big guy looked like he was going to attack you so…well… I thought it'd be best to get you out of the way." Kouga scoffed and Kagome turned to glare at him. _Nice one Kagome, you so suck at lying._

"Right." InuYasha replied, not the least bit convinced.

"Mmm hmmm." Everyone turned to look at Miroku. "I think we should be getting back to the topic at hand."

"Which was?" Kouga asked glaring at Miroku.

"What each of us is doing here."

"Walking." The three answered in unison.

"And you?" Kouga probed.

"We were jogging."

_Right,_ Kagome thought as she took in the appearance of Miroku and the girl standing silently behind him. The girl was in three inch heels. One does not jog in shoes such as those.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Everyone, this is Mafumi." Miroku hurried to introduce the girl, noticing Kagome's appraising glance. "She's…uhh… a friend of mine. Yeah." It was InuYasha's turn to scoff. Apparently Miroku was no better at lying than Kagome was.

"Miroku, we really should be getting back." Mafumi spoke for the first time.

"Right you are. Well, see you lot at school." Miroku said as he and Mafumi walked back down the path in the direction from which they had come.

Once they were out of sight, InuYasha started in on the two Guardians.

"Ok, so what's really going on? Who were those two idiots and where did they go?"

"Like I've told you before InuYasha, it's none of your concern."

"Look here you mangy wolf, I think I deserve some answers and I'll beat them out of you if I have to."

Kouga gave InuYasha a bored look. "You have a branch in your hair." Kagome couldn't help but laugh. It was kind of hard to take him seriously with all those twigs and leaves sticking out of his head.

"What are you laughing at?" InuYasha began to pick out the foliage from his hair.

"Nothing. Look, I think we should all just go home and forget about this incident." InuYasha eyed her suspiciously.

"We were just attacked by two huge guys and you're saying that you don't want to go to the police or something?"

Kagome thought for a moment. It was a little out of character for a teenage girl to be attacked in a park after dark and not want to tell anyone about it.

"Well, the way I see it, no one got hurt so why bother?" _There I go with the bad lying again._

InuYasha shook his head. "I don't understand you."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Hiten kneeled in the large room with the picture window. In front of him stood a man with long black hair. The expression on his face was less than pleasant.

"So, am I to understand that you failed in your objective?"

"Yes sir. I'm very sorry."

"How is it that you failed to snag a target so weak?"

"There were others there, sir; Guardians from the look of it."

"So? You've dealt with Guardians before and come out on top. What was different this time?"

"We were taken off guard sir. It won't happen again."

"Oh, I know it won't. Kagura"

"Yes sir?"

"Make sure that this disgrace is taught his lesson, and don't forget his brother."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Kagome was exhausted the next day at school. She found it hard to concentrate on anything. Not surprisingly, her brain refused to function. She had been out until well into the early morning dealing with that mess with the demons. Sango and Ayami wouldn't leave her alone during lunch. Sango was worried that Kagome was coming down with something while Ayami's biggest worry was what had happened with Kouga last night. She was sure that was the real reason for Kagome's zombie-like state and no one could convince her otherwise.

Chemistry had been worse than ever. Evidently InuYasha was still angry about the whole being pushed into the bushes thing. Consequently, she was on her own again for lab. All the progress they had made shattered to pieces. The guy could be so touchy.

Miroku didn't show up for study hall which was just as well. Kagome didn't want to talk to him anyway and seeing that there was no math homework for the next day, she had no reason to. She spent the period mulling over last evening's events. Those demons had to have been there for a reason otherwise Kouga would have sensed their actions much earlier.

The more she thought about it the more she came up with InuYasha. The demons hadn't shown themselves until he had showed up and they had seemed unusually interested in him. Whether that had to do with his big mouth or some other malicious intent, Kagome couldn't say. But what would anyone want with InuYasha? He was just a high school student after all, wasn't he? Kagome lay her head down on the table. This was just all too confusing.

The only way they would get answers would be to track down the demons from the night before and question them. But that would never work. They'd need more Guardians which Sesshomaru wasn't likely to approve. Plus, tracking them down could take forever. They could be anywhere. So it looked like she was just going to have to let the situation drop for the time being.

The bell rang and Kagome couldn't be happier. All she wanted to do was go home and take a long nap. But fate had had another plan for her. As she walked out the main doors to the school someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her off to the side. Had she been a bit more awake, she probably would have given whoever had yanked her from her path a swift punch to the jaw. In stead she just let out a wail of protest and spun around to see who she was dealing with. She put on her best glare and looked up. The person staring back at her made her want to run away screaming. Wouldn't Kouga ever leave her alone?

"What do you want?" she asked gruffly.

"Sess wants us at the mansion as soon as possible."

"What for?" Kagome was getting angrier by the minute. She didn't even bother to ask how he knew what Sesshomaru wanted so quickly.

"Debriefing."

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"No. He thinks The Order has something big in the works. He also wants to talk to you about that vision of yours."

"Do you think they could be connected?"

"I'm honestly not sure. That's why we have to go."

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but how are we going to get there? Walk?"

"Of course not. He had a cab sent." Kouga said as he walked off toward the street.

"Now why didn't I think of that?" Kagome said sarcastically as she trudged after him. She'd have to ask someone at the mansion if she could use a phone. No doubt her mother would be worried when Kagome didn't show up right after school.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

**ok, so there you have it. I know it's a little short but I've run out of computer time and I do really have other things I need to get to. The next chapter should be longer. So now it's time for you to tell me what you thought. Push the little button and give it a go. I'm addicted to reviews so the more I get the more I want to write. Bye for now **

**CSJ **


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